Pv The Start of An Heir

IC Time: December 23rd, 2024

XXXThe morning was quiet, interrupted only by the occasional chirp of the birds fluttering through the forest. Eonaria sat at the edge of her bed, already dressed, as usual. Kimpy had long since learned not to try and help her get dressed, deciding to remain quiet in the early hours of the morning. It definitely wasn't the best idea to try and teleport around with the usual loud crack at 5 AM.

XXXEonaria sat and gazed at the wall, contemplating nothing in particular for a long time before she finally remembered that another Pureblood family was supposed to be visiting today. She had barely caught a snippet of the discussion between her parents last night, but it was good information to know, even if it was limited. Since they didn't tell her about it, Eonaria expected she would just be sitting at the corner of the table being awkward while the adults talked about politics.

XXXNevertheless, she had to make a good impression.. or whatever she could get together, anyway. The familiar sounds of dishes clinking drifted up from the kitchen, alerting Eonaria that it was now an acceptable time to be out of her room. She checked herself in the mirror one last time- not that it would matter, since her hair was likely to be all over the place by the time their guests arrived- before she finally scampered downstairs.

XXXWhen she arrived, skidding across the floor in sock-ice-skating style, Raiame looked up from the dining table with a disgruntled expression. "What are you doing?" He asked mildly. Eonaria straightened up, swiping one of his onigiri and taking a bite.

XXX"Umm, I don't know." She shrugged. "Do you know who's coming over today? And what's the occasion? Christmas?" Eonaria glanced at the inconspicuous Christmas tree in the corner. It had been meticulously selected by their father for utter perfection, adorned with blue baubles and little candleholders bearing bluebell flames. It was pretty, but it looked out of place.

XXXRaiame sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know that much, myself, but please don't embarrass us all." Eonaria looked offended. "What? Me? When did I ever do that?" He looked at her, then at the staircase. "A couple seconds ago, when you slid across the floor."

XXX"Oh. Yeah, but no one was around to see it."

XXX"Don't do anything like that."

XXX"Fine, fine."

XXXThe house had been quiet for another few hours as Kimpy bustled around setting everything up in the parlor, the different flavors of tea and biscuits. Eonaria sat on the stairs, watching nervously. Her parents had finally revealed more details to her about the meeting an hour ago: her father, Aquila, would be doing most of the pleasantries. Her mother spoke English perfectly well, having grown up in England just like her father, but she didn't like spending long periods of time conversing politely.

XXXThere was also a boy about her age coming. Well, what the heck am I supposed to do? ...I wonder if he's anything like Raiame. Eonaria glanced across the living room with a sigh. The two boys would probably get along well. Unless they didn't.

XXXShe was startled out of her thoughts when she caught a glimpse of movement through the window. Eonaria scrambled to her feet. "Ahh! They're here?!" She ran to the door, remembered that she probably wasn't the best first impression, and dove behind Raiame. "Help!"

XXX"Wha-" He pried her off, nudging them both off to the side. Eonaria quickly fixed her composure, though she couldn't stop the nervous smile from forming on her face. Aquila frowned at their antics as the pair of wind-chime-bell-things(seriously, Eonaria hadn't thought much about them in a while) rang, letting out a single harmonious chime and signaling the approach of their guests.

XXXAquila opened the door, revealing a stern-looking, mature woman and a curly-haired boy. Eonaria gulped visibly, stepping backward out of sight and subtly fixing her hair. She's scary... Unsurprisingly, Raiame remained composed. "Hello," Aquila greeted with a slight smile, welcoming them in and opening the door wider. Kimpy appeared almost immediately, bowing and ushering them happily into the parlor. Eonaria followed after them, bemused, as they were all seated around the table.

XXXThe couches and armchairs were arranged in a way so that everybody was facing everybody, which was probably more convenient for discussion, as it put the same amount of attention on everyone. On the contrary, Eonaria wanted no attention on her at all, since she would probably blurt out something dumb. Wait, why am I here, anyway? What could I possibly contribute?

XXXOnce everyone was seated, Aquila addressed the unknown woman. "So, Ms. Castellano, what brings you here?"

.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬　. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.　♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.

Pv with @Eonaria Kabukimono- December 23rd 2024 - Somewhere in England

Not many purebloods were actually pure. Humans are not capable of keeping things pure; they sully everything. However, humans are good at pretending. Babies passed from one person’s hands to another, names burned off family trees, and whispers turned into rumors. It was easy to hide impurities in time.

Many families had their dirty secrets, some more lively than others. The Castellano’s secrets were not ones that dealt with secret babies or missing branches on evergreen family trees, no. Their secrets came from what happened to those leaves.

In the manor, a large tapestry covered both floors of the west wing library. The top of it faded into the darkness of the ceiling, whether by normal or magical means, concealing how far the tapestry actually went. Names and faces, some moving and many not, were magically stitched into the fabric. Theophilus would sometimes sit at the bottom and stare up at the family members he did know on there: his father’s moving face, eyes sunk in and looking distant; or sometimes his grandfather, face unmoving. One of his uncle's faces was moving, the other not. Theophilus was scared one day he’d notice someone closer to his moving face grow still.

As he stepped into the other pureblood family’s home, he wondered if they also had something to showcase their bloodline. His grandmother walked in like she was the second owner of the manor, stepping with purpose and pose to the sitting room.

“Well, Mr. Kabukimono, I figured I’d come and we’d talk more in depth about our little problem with this year's funding; as you know, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad is very loved by our community, and thats why we were looking forward to mor-” Theophilus stopped listening, instead, he stared towards the other kids invited in on this conversation. Twins, he thinks, one looking more ditsy than the other.

He looked over them; the boy looked more put together, but that might be because he was dressed in a plainlier way compared to the girl. He ignored the adults as they talked, only nodding when he felt like it would be a good time to show he wasn’t completely in his own head.

[365 /200]

IC Time: December 23rd, 2024

Ms. Castellano's words taken as a quote from Theophilus over owl

XXX"...and that's why we were looking for more 'relief' from the departments' donations." Eonaria listened intently to the stern woman, now revealed to be a 'Ms. Castellano,' whom went right into discussing funding. She furrowed her brows slightly.

XXXFunding? Funding for what? Is this something that the adults are doing off randomly on the side? Also, are all of the departments of the Ministry of Magic giving donations? That's odd. What's so important? I've never seen this woman or heard of her before. Again, she wondered why she was here. If Ms. Castellano came over to discuss funding, what use would the children be?

XXXEonaria glanced at her. She seemed to be very confident, speaking firmly. It was a little intimidating, but also infuriating. Does she think she can boss us around? If Aqui doesn't want to give funding, he doesn't have to! Unless that would be, like, a super terrible thing against reputation. Wait, what am I talking about again? She refocused, blinking herself out of her thoughts.

XXXThe unknown boy seemed to be assessing them judgmentally. Yikes. "Good morning," she said awkwardly, though it came out a little quieter than she intended. "I'm Eonaria. What's your name?" He heard me, right? Hopefully? Raiame shot her a look that said 'seriously?' ...Ah. Eonaria turned slightly red.

XXXMeanwhile, Aquila hadn't reacted much to Ms. Castellano's statement. "Certainly, I am aware that our department's donation has decreased from last year, but I am confident that you will thrive without it. After all, the-"

XXXA squirrel scampered across the pathway outside.

XXXFrom where Eonaria was sitting, she was directly facing a window. Her gaze immediately focused on the little creature as its brown fur contrasted against the grey stones. It sat up, looking around, its tail up. Eonaria watched the fluffy critter as it dived out of view, just barely remembering to keep a smile from forming on her face. Raiame shifted his foot to nudge her ankle just the tiniest bit. She blinked, looking back at him before turning her attention back to the adults. Head empty, no thoughts. Eeek.

XXX"...so you must understand, correct?" Aquila finished. Huh? We rejected the funding request, right? Yay? Is this good? Eonaria tried to squint at her brother, but he looked so done with her that she returned to observing the carpet. Then she remembered that the other boy had been looking at her before she, er, got distracted by the squirrel. WHOOPS. Second impression, out the window. Running away with the squirrel.

.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬　. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.　♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.

Pv with @Eonaria Kabukimono- December 23rd 2024 - Somewhere in England

Theophilus spent many days sitting on the plush cushions of the sitting rooms’ couches, his bottom growing increasingly numb as the minutes passed. His grandmother’s hand flying over parchment with a steady easement, as information was passed from one person to the next. The Athanatos family, The Ravaxidors, The Itos . . . All names he learned throughout the hours, some through gossip, others through their own letters.

“I’ve been raising funds for years, Theophilus, and I have never failed to get us to our goals,” His grandmother had said a couple of afternoons ago, her red hair pinned tightly to her head, not a hair able to move as she looked down at the letters in her hand. “It is a Castellano duty to make sure you never let us go underfunded.”

Theophilus hummed, watching her hands as they traced the words she was reading, “What are we funding?” He had asked innocently. Her gaze immediately left the letter and fell on her young heir; whatever she was reading was put on the back burner at the offending question. The elder put her hands down in her lap, never letting the letters leave them, her eyes growing slightly colder.

“What do you think funds all the things we do for the community? The balls we throw, the gifts we donate to the schools, the many meetings we have to go to for the betterment of the good part of the wizarding war? It must come from somewhere. Do you think it is cheap to talk to those pale beings in the south, the Veelas? No! They want gold and shiny things and are too much like the flying rodents that they look like, but we must do what we must so they will continue to act like the pigeons they are and try not to intimidate the dirty vultures they used to be.” The elder ranted out, her disgust at the Veelas coming out full force at the end, a sharp chill overcoming the 11-year-old as he silently listened.

She suddenly stopped, a hand coming to smooth down the already perfect red hair of hers. Agatha sighed and stood, coming to a kneel by Theophilus. The boy had goosebumps on his arms from the uncomfortable feeling he had gotten listening to her rant. The older woman ran a hand over his thigh, an attempt to comfort him that failed, “I’m sorry; I know I must seem awful for being so … nasty about the Veelas, but you must understand, they are not like us. They do not have the same values as we do.”

Theophilus simply nodded.

He found himself doing the same now, in a different purebloods’ sitting room, as his grandmother asked if Theophilus wanted to see the other children’s rooms, so the elders could speak for a bit.

“I think it would do us good to have this conversation more in-depth, as you know, this year’s funding will go towards a plaque to remember the students lost last month in the explosions in Hogsmeade,” His grandmother said, practically bleeding the appropriate amount of sympathy purebloods were allow to show in public, which wasn’t too much to start with.

Theophilus knew about the explosions, more so about the pointing figures of said attacks, though he knew not to share a comment; instead, he turned to the children there, waiting.

He hadn’t spoken when the girl spoke to him, as Theophilus knew his grandmother would rather him not speak as she was talking business, not even to say his name. Though he figured that when they were no longer in front of the other adults, he would be free to speak his name, and maybe even be free to slouch instead of maintaining the perfect position he had to keep in front of the older purebloods. Maybe. . .

[636/200]

December 23, 2024

English - Japanese - Thoughts

@Theophilus Castellano

Kabukimono Manor

XXXEonaria sat there, blinking a bit too fast. She brushed her bangs away from her eyes, panicking just a little. The other boy had not responded to her question, and she could already hear the 'I told you so' her brother would inevitably lecture her with. How was I supposed to know that we're not supposed to talk? Her confusion only increased. There was probably nothing more embarrassing than to ask a question when meeting someone new only to be met with silence. She shoved her hands together on her lap and resigned herself to continuing to listen to Ms. Castellano.

XXX"While the deaths last month were very tragic, I think funding should be used for more efficient endeavors," Eonaria spoke without thinking. By the time she even realized she was talking, the only thing she could do to fix her very unfortunate mishap was to regulate her words so that she at least sounded more sophisticated, and not... bumbling. Or something. Raiame closed his eyes, breathing hard through his nose. Her father, on the other hand, stared at her. "I believe it might be good for you all to go upstairs," he said thinly. He didn't seem too upset, only wanting to fix the situation and perhaps quickly usher Eonaria away before she said anything else stupid.

XXX"Right," Eonaria squeaked after a moment, standing up, shocked at herself. Her brother shook his head, signalling he would rather stay and listen. Her hands were practically shaking as she hurried out of the parlor. She had no idea if the unfamiliar boy would follow her not, but if he didn't, it would look even more like she was a small child getting sent to her room for misbehaving. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment. What was she thinking?! Nothing at all, that's what.

XXXI mean, seriously, are you really going to devote an entire year's funding to a plaque? It's decoration! I know it's honoring the deaths of students, but come on! It's not productive. Her thoughts churned, but she would absolutely not let them out.

XXXEonaria hurried up the stairs, keeping her footsteps quiet. Aquaenala greeted her at the top of the stairs, meowing. Her fluffy tail stuck up, swaying slightly. Eonaria smiled, leaning down to pet her head. "Hi there," she whispered, retreating to her room.

XXXShe was quite glad she had done a bit of reorganization of her room last weekend, though she didn't know other people were going to be in it. And by last weekend, she meant two days ago. While Eonaria's room was usually kept quite clean, with a bit of help from Kimpy's dusting, it sometimes had a project or two sprawled out in the middle of the room. Aquaenala followed her in, brushing against her legs.

.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬　. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.　♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.

Pv with@ Eonaria Kabukimono- December 23rd 2024 - Somewhere in England

The thing about going from the eldest son to the family Heir was that a lot of things had to change. The heir of the noble house of Castellano had to act and appear a certain way, always. First change was actually a hair cut to fit the standards that his grandmother upheld. His hair was a little longer than it usually got because of everything that had been going on before they got to the Family manor; just above his shoulders to be in fact. He was sitting in an older wooden chair as a house elf stood behind him on a box; his grandmother telling the elf to clip here, cut there, trim this side. His curls were still there in the end, but shorter, less shaggy looking.

Next was his clothes, but he figured that made sense as the temperatures were different here than where he lived before; though he had never worn so many clothes that showed his family before. He was even given a ring with his family crest on it.

“You wear this always, it is to show that you are more.” He had nodded through, sometimes he wished he had asked, more what? He sometimes spun the ring on his index finger when he was thinking, a subconscious thing that started a couple days after he started wearing the ring full time.

In the Kabukimono sitting room, he wore a pale blue set of formal robes, the family crest embroidered in a light gray, almost white, with the ring snug on his finger. He stopped himself from spinning it several times since he walked through their door, because he didn’t want them to thing he was bored while he was here, but it was hard. Especially when the girl decided to speak out of turn.

He would have never done such a thing, the 8 months that he had been with his grandmother already having taught him that you never get into a conversation you were not invited in. Theophilus chanced a look up to his grandmother, just to see her with a stiff smile. She said nothing at the outburst from the girl.

The girl in turn seemed almost like she didn’t plan the words she said, which Theophilus couldn’t even believe someone would do. Who would be so brash in a meeting with someone who also had so much influence as the other pureblood family? Had she not been taught any better? He had, and he only just started to be truly taught how he should act as a child in a pureblood family.

When her father sent her away, Theophilus was almost happy that she hadn’t been reprimed in front of them, but that only lasted so long.

“Why don’t you follow her, Theophilus, maybe she can teach you about hogwarts before you enter next year,” His grandmother said, smiling to him, though her eyes told him what she really meant. He was to leave too so they could talk about more important matters, or negotiate without his presence to censor them. “Of Course, Grandmother.” He said, with a small nod.

He had to hurry to follow the girl, as she seemed to just barely keep herself from racing to her room and way from them all. When he did make it up the stairs and to her room, she was already seemingly comfortable there feline in hand. Theophilus took his time looking around the room from outside the door, so much different than his own. When he was done, he knocked softly on her doorframe.

“May I come in, Ms Kabukimono?”

[602/200]

December 23, 2024

English - Japanese - Thoughts

@Theophilus Castellano

Kabukimono Manor

XXXEonaria was a bit startled when the boy did indeed follow her upstairs, but also relieved. Otherwise, she would probably end up eavesdropping at the top of the stairs while Aquaenala tried to climb on her back.

XXX"Of course," she replied, cooling down a little. Perhaps this was still salvageable. Eonaria wondered what she was supposed to call him. Mr Castellano? It sounded so wrong in her head. She never really addressed anyone around her age by Mr/Ms anything. She desperately wanted to know his given name, but she was definitely not about to ask the same exact question she had asked and been denied just minutes before.

XXXEonaria sat on her bed for a second longer, an automatic reaction, before she suddenly remembered she was supposed to do something about a guest. "Please take a seat," Eonaria added hurriedly, quickly standing up. Wait a minute. Where is he supposed to sit? She looked around her room, and for the first time in years, panicked about not having enough furniture.

XXXThere were a total of zero chairs in her room, because she hated most chairs and liked either sitting on the floor or laying on her bed to do her work. In place of the astonishing absence of chairs, were shelves. Many, many shelves lined with variously coloured ink pots, sheaves of parchment, tiny ceramic animal figurines, paints, and paintbrushes. And a desk with her textbooks, with her trunk tucked under it. But zero seating arrangements!! Eonaria never thought she'd ever have to host someone that was not a friend in her room! She was also sure the wooden edge of the bed frame was too small to sit on comfortably.

XXX"Um," she finally remarked. "Are you... okay... with sitting on the floor...? Or the bed...? Or the windowsill...?" Eonaria pointed awkwardly to the framed space between the inner surface of the wall and the inner surface of the window. It was not at all a bad place to sit, as she often read books there. It just felt too strange for a guest. Nooo, I'm too unprepared!!

XXXAquaenala meowed, leaping onto the bed to lay down on the pillows, her tail hanging off the edge of the bed. The late morning sunshine stretched across the room to bathe the feline's napping spot in warmth. Eonaria contemplated carrying a chair up the stairs, but not only would it put her in view of the adults downstairs, but she would also probably drop it along the way! Her arm strength was, let's say... extremely pitiful? For a moment, she wanted to ask her mother for help, as first years were certainly not capable of conjuring furniture into existence yet, but at the moment Eonaria didn't even know where her mother was. In the study? In the kitchen? In the library? For all she knew, her mother could be at Diagon Alley, shopping for potion supplies or something.

XXXShe should just keep backup chairs in her walk-in wardrobe.

.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬　. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.　♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.

Reducio

Kind of like this? A little smaller, and the chair is not there.

Pv with @Eonaria Kabukimono- December 23rd 2024 - Somewhere in England

Most of the time when Theophilus was at one of the various meetings of some pureblood family and his grandmother, when he was sent out it was to somewhere less personal. Maybe a kitchen, a potions Laboratory, once he even made his self comfortable in a home quidditch field beside a older boy who looked just as uncomfortable in that perfect pureblood meeting way. The young boy had never been led to a bedroom in all his many visits; it seemed to personal for his family’s mission of collecting funds for the Purebloods’ philanthropy.

Theophilus stood in the doorway, still, even as he was given the go-ahead to enter and get comfortable in the girl’s space. The room was almost bland in color, but not in a boring way. Rich in tans and soft colors, thought pops of color from paint and figurines did break up the steady stream of color, were the main theme of the bedroom. Oddly enough, she had a nice desk covered in things, one not too different from his own. Thought, what was even odder was the fact the desk lacked a chair of any sorts.

Actually, the whole room lacked anywhere for the young boy to keep his composure and sit comfortably. The girl had been sitting on the bed, and while it did have plenty of space for him to rest, he did not think it was even remotely okay that he take a seat on a young girl’s bed when there was a lack of any adult presence in the room. Secondly, he found the motion way too personal, and he didn't kno0w the girl even half as well to feel comfortable like that.

He was thinking of just standing when the girl spoke again, almost like she was also feeling the anxiety and discomfort with the boy being there. Though she largely damned him with her own manners. “Of course,” Theophilus spoke softly at her request to take a seat. Next thing he knew, they were both looking around for some makeshift seat for him, almost like one would come out of thin air.

Theophilus spotted a small bit of space by the window, almost like an alcove just for the girl to do her reading. Of course, he thought, a room like this, full of trinkets and paints, would have only one real sitting area and it will be just an improper place to get lost in a book. She seemed to think his options were either the bed, the window sill or, merlin forbid, the floor.

The young heir couldn’t help but grimace at each of the options, his displeasure at the suggestions very clear. “I… I can stand.” He said. He knew his words were brunt and short, but he didn’t think he could say everything he wanted without both ruining any kind of friendship they can have. Plus, the English language didn’t have enough words for him to explain how she would never see him force himself to sit on someone’s floor. How maddening a suggestion!

[510/200]

Note: I'm dying at his reaction of her suggesting the floor, he is flabbergasted.

December 23, 2024

English - Japanese - Thoughts

@Theophilus Castellano

Kabukimono Manor

XXXEonaria regretted her terrible suggestions as the boy's expression changed like he had just laid eyes on something horrid. His blunt denial only made it worse.

XXX"Okay," she said automatically, now having no idea what to do. She wasn't about to sit back down on her bed and leave him to stand there by himself, but... maybe she could peer pressurize him into sitting on the floor by sitting first? But if he didn't, the juxtaposition of their placement would be even worse. "Er..."

XXXPerhaps the idea of sitting on the floor was completely foreign to the boy, who looked like he did more respectable things than her family allowed. Now that was a pretty intimidating thought. The next time people came to visit, Eonaria should just sit and paint in her room and pretend not to be there. Quick, think of a question!

XXXThus, she asked the first thing that came to mind: "So, um, do you know what they're talking about downstairs?" It was... a questionable question. Probably not the most intelligent one she could have asked. Her eye might have twitched slightly. The next time she got bored, she should write a list of good questions to ask. On the bright side, at least she hadn't asked something stupid about his hair.

XXXHow long does it take to discuss a little bit of funding? She wondered when the parents were going to call them down. Nevertheless, Eonaria followed up with another inquiry to try and make it seem a little better. "If your grandmother is using this year's funding for a plaque, what does she do with it all the other years?" Wait. Is Ms Castellano even his grandmother? It's hard to tell her age... maybe she's his aunt... or even his mother? Well, if Eonaria got it wrong, surely he would correct her. But if Ms Castellano was the boy's mother, it would be mortifying on her part. People were already so touchy about their ages!

XXXEonaria didn't think she had seen this boy at Hogwarts before, in the few months she had attended. Perhaps their schedules had simply misaligned in the perfect combination that prevented their corridor traversals from overlapping. She knew there were definitely people in her year that shared zero classes with her. I wonder if Raiame knows him? Ah, if we go back to Hogwarts and I start recognizing him around the place... yikes...

.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬　. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.　♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.

Reducio